First Medical Marijuana Center Opens in Rhode Island

Friday is the first day of business for the first medical marijuana compassion center in Rhode Island.

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There was a line out the door of the Thomas C. Slater Compassion Center in Providence, on opening day for the first medical marijuana dispensary here in Rhode Island. The 1,600 square foot building houses cultivation and processing facilities as well as the center itself.

Despite state approval for the center, the federal government still classifies marijuana as illegal, said Chris Reilly, a spokesperson for the center.

“The federal government could come in here and intervene, because there is a conflict with what we do at the state level and what the federal government views with regard to that activity," said Reilly. "It’s not lost on us, it’s a concern that we’re faced with, but we believe in the end that what trumps all of that is the needs of these sick people and these patients that come to us that find relief from this simple organic plant that grows in the ground.”

The center is open six days a week, and there are plans for two more medical marijuana centers to be opened in Warwick and Portsmouth.

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